Good thing that Doug has a job in the NBA as a player, because he couldn't hold down a job where he was expected to wear pants. i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif

LRB

01-15-2003, 07:43 AM

|| HIFINY.COM || August 8, 2002 || Home ||

******

&quot;The Great Whipped Hope&quot;

The following is a New York Times article written by Mike Wise on professional basketball player Doug Christie and his &quot;unique&quot; relationship with his wife, Jackie. The article is printed here as I'm unable to find the link on the nytimes.com site.

###

In the final minute of an N.B.A. playoff game on Monday night, Doug Christie raised his left fist, extending his pinkie and index fingers toward the rafters of Arco Arena. Christie, a lanky swingman for the Sacramento Kings, appeared to be calling out a play for his teammates.

But the message was actually intended for his wife, Jackie, seated in the stands. He often makes the same hand signal at least 50 times a game. &quot;That's just to let my wife know I love her, and she and family are bigger than basketball,&quot; Christie said.

Christie's wife Jackie rides in a car behind the team bus, talking to Doug on his cellphone until he arrives at the hotel or arena.

Jackie Christie said she and her husband began communicating with each other during games a while ago. &quot;When I make this sign, it means drive to the hole,&quot; she said. &quot;When I make this sign, it means smile because you look a little sad on the bench. He started making this sign and said, 'This means I love you,' and it developed from there. It makes me feel real special.&quot;

Reporters who cover Christie's former team, the Toronto Raptors, were so intrigued by the couple's sign language that they created a betting pool when the Raptors played at Sacramento last November. By their count, Christie signaled his wife 62 times during the game.

&quot;Sixty-two,&quot; Jackie said, shaking her head in a pleased manner recently as she clutched her husband's hand on the couch in their home in suburban Sacramento. &quot;That's beautiful.&quot;

When the Kings flew to Los Angeles today for Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against the Lakers on Friday night, Jackie was seated next to Doug, as much a part of the postseason experience as any family member in the N.B.A.

In the frenetic world of major professional sports, where athletes have trouble balancing their personal and public lives -- and the perception of don't-ask, don't-tell marriages is sometimes a reality -- the Christies have gone to great lengths to make sure their own vows are kept sacred.

With few exceptions, Doug Christie does not look at other women, avoiding dialogue or even eye contact. &quot;Every conversation I've ever had with a woman since we've been married besides my wife she knows about,&quot; he said. &quot;She's been there. But what are we talking about? Banking? Mortgage? Other than that, I don't have anything to say to anybody. It's taking up my time and my time is limited to basketball and my family.&quot;

The Christies, who have been married for eight years and have three children, get married on July 8 each year, their anniversary. It is not a mere renewal of their wedding vows, but an actual wedding -- replete with friends, family, cake and a reception.

This year, they will be married on the foundation of their new, not-yet-completed home in Bellevue, Wash. Christie's agent, Bradley Marshall, who is also a minister, has married them the past two years.

&quot;At first I thought this was a little bit much, but when you see the dividends it pays, you understand,&quot; Marshall said. &quot;They invite other married couples to the wedding, and they're very encouraged by the whole process. It's very emotional.&quot;

Jackie said she attends 25 to 30 of the Kings' 41 regular-season road games, riding on the team's charter.

&quot;I used to tell people I was married to an athlete and they would give me that look, 'Oh, we know what he's doing,' &quot; she said. &quot;I don't try to explain anymore: 'Yeah, but he's different. And I travel with him and he's not like the rest.' I just know Doug is faithful.&quot;

When Christie played for the Raptors, his wife once confronted a female fan seeking an autograph and a kiss in Toronto. &quot;A security guard grabbed her, but I put my hand up and told her to back off really loud,&quot; she said. &quot;It scared me, because my voice sounded like a demon. It just came out. She was a pretty girl, very young. But she was touching someone she shouldn't have been.&quot;

Some wives of professional athletes focus on the perks of life in the big time: affluence, public attention, premium seats at sold-out games. Jackie Christie sees a different reality, one in which her husband and other players are battling the seduction of women who wait after games and prowl hotel lobbies.

&quot;You see so much of that going on, you think, 'Is that going to happen to me?' &quot; she said. &quot;I'm fine now. I gave up trying to change things. People are going to be the way they're going to be. Now, my attitude is, whatever we have to do to keep our circle tight. Just respect what we have and our commitment.&quot;

Sustaining relationships can be difficult for N.B.A. players, said Charles Smith, a former player who was a union vice president. &quot;Nine times out of 10, when a player gets married early in his career, he's still growing and his spouse is still growing,&quot; Smith said. &quot;Then you have kids, and it's a very difficult juggling act. If you don't have a firm foundation to fall back on, it doesn't work.&quot;

Rick Fox, the Lakers' forward, and his wife of three years, the actress and singer Vanessa Williams, sometimes put up with a bicoastal relationship. Williams is starring on Broadway in &quot;Into the Woods.&quot;

&quot;I admire any N.B.A. couple that takes steps to make their relationship work because, let's face it, there are a lot of people out there who want to disrupt what we have,&quot; Fox said. &quot;This is not the healthiest environment for a marriage. You've got to have a lot of trust to be married to any professional athlete.&quot;

Many of the game's most prominent players have taken part in the league's extravagant lifestyle. Magic Johnson acknowledged after announcing in 1991 that he had contracted H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, that he had been promiscuous. Patrick Ewing testified last year in a federal racketeering trial in Atlanta about sexual favors he received from dancers at a local strip club.

Jackie Christie arrives before games with her husband and leaves with him afterward. She sends him a note in the locker room before each game, taken there by a team attendant. He writes a reply and sends it back. Sometimes on the road, Jackie will ride in a car behind the team bus, talking to Doug on his cellphone until he arrives at the hotel or arena.

Doug Christie says he is a willing participant in these rituals. &quot;It was hard for me to do the interview about this and say this is my life,&quot; he said. &quot;Because some people will say: 'That's a bunch of garbage. He's lying.' But this is who I am and who we are.&quot;

During Christie's time in Toronto, Jackie was uncomfortable that women working for the Raptors went into the locker room to distribute statistics after games. So Doug began dressing in an adjacent room. An Eastern Conference team official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that he had warned the Kings about obtaining Christie two years ago because of some of the issues his wife had raised in Toronto.

&quot;I just felt I needed to protect my territory in the beginning,&quot; Jackie said. &quot;So I had a lot of issues. I have a jealous bone in my body, yes. It's probably as big as me. I'm very easygoing until I feel a threat.&quot;

She added: &quot;Doug is allowed to look at females. I would prefer he didn't.&quot;

Jackie sometimes has made it clear to her husband and team employees that certain female reporters should not be allowed to interview her husband unless she is present. &quot;If she wants an interview, I will attend it with my husband so there can be no games,&quot; she said.

Some of the Kings kid Christie about the hand signals. &quot;Hedo will flash the sign at my wife from over on the bench,&quot; he said of Hedo Turkoglu, the Kings' swingman. &quot;They have fun with it, but they also respect and accept it.&quot;

Christie is a versatile 6-foot-6 player who made the N.B.A.'s all-defensive team because of his long arms, quickness and desire. Off the floor, he is a laid-back 10-year veteran. Introverted outside the locker room, he is thoughtful and well read. Born to a biracial couple -- his father is black, his mother white -- Christie grew up in Seattle.

He met Jackie, a former part-time model, at a sports bar through a friend before he was drafted out of Pepperdine in 1992. He said his lifestyle was much more carefree and rambunctious before his marriage.

&quot;Each of us has to go through and find our own way and mine was the route that I took,&quot; he said. &quot;We all have choices, and the choices I was making back then were not the ones I would want to teach to my children.&quot;

Asked if he considered his current behavior drastic, Christie shook his head no. &quot;It's not that I'm not allowed to look at women, it's just respect,&quot; he said. &quot;I choose this. There is nothing out there for me to want or try to go after. That's not what I'm trying to be about.&quot;

The Christies say their behavior has not been influenced by a religious sect or a life-altering event.

&quot;I really can't explain it to you, except one day we were in the driveway of our Seattle home before I got married and all of a sudden all these revelations started coming to me in 1994,&quot; Christie said. &quot;It came from God. I used to tell her, 'I know where I want to go, but I don't know how to get there.' Everything became clear when I told her I wanted to marry her. The life I was leading before I didn't want anymore.&quot;

Jackie looked approvingly at her husband and smiled. &quot;I get a lot of women who asked me, 'How did you get Doug to act that way?' &quot;

He said: &quot;Our love is boundless and free. For me, it doesn't feel like a restriction. It's a lifestyle, the way we live. So it's easy. It's not, 'You can't do this, you can't do that.' &quot;

###

LRB

01-15-2003, 07:47 AM

Only stupid question is one not asked
By Bill Simmons
Page 2 columnist

Before we turn our full attention to the NBA Finals, some burning questions remain from the first three rounds of the playoffs

...

Question: What's the story with Doug Christie?
Did you see that New York Times article about Christie and his wife, the piece that resulted in the Whipped Hall of Fame being quickly changed to the Doug Christie Memorial Hall of Fame? Everyone has that one buddy who constantly makes up lame excuses because his wife or girlfriend won't let him leave the house, but Christie takes it to another level. This is unprecedented stuff. Few things have rendered me speechless over the years, but check out some of these tidbits:

You know when Christie raises his arm, extends his pinky and index fingers and signals into the air? He's actually signalling &quot;I love you&quot; to his wife (Jackie), something that happens 50-60 times a game, even during crunch-time. It's almost like he suffers from a whipped version of Tourette's.

Some direct quotes and excerpts: &quot;With few exceptions, Doug Christie does not look at other women, avoiding dialogue or even direct contact&quot; ... The Christies remarry every year on their anniversary, &quot;not a mere renewal of their wedding vows but an actual wedding -- replete with friends, family cake and a reception&quot; ... Mrs. Christie attends 25-30 of the Kings road games, always riding on the team charter ... &quot;(She) arrives before games with her husband and leaves with him after&quot; ... &quot;She sends him a note in the locker room before every game, taken there by a team attendant. He writes a reply and sends it back&quot; ... &quot;Sometimes on the road, Jackie will ride in a car behind the team bus, talking to Doug until he arrives at the hotel or arena.&quot;

(I kept waiting for this part: &quot;When Doug asked if he could attend Mateen Cleaves' bachelor party this season, his wife burned his clothes and set his BMW convertible on fire.&quot;)

My favorite part: &quot;When Christie played for the Raptors, his wife once confronted a female fan seeking an autograph and a kiss in Toronto. 'A security guard grabbed her, but I put my hand up and told her to back off really loud,' she said. 'It scared me, because my voice sounded like a demon ... she was touching someone she shouldn't have been.'&quot;

I guess there are three appropriate reactions here:

1. If you had one TV wish, wouldn't it be for the Christies to appear on &quot;Temptation Island.&quot; I always write how this-and-that would make for the greatest TV series ever, but realistically, a &quot;Temptation Island&quot; with the Christies ... that would never be topped in the annals of TV history. That's the Comedy Ceiling right there, isn't it? Even my idea for the HBO talk show with Corey Haim, Corey Feldman and an open bar couldn't come close.

2. If you were granted an alternate TV wish, wouldn't it be for an &quot;Osbournes&quot;-style reality-TV show called &quot;The Christies&quot;? Just Doug getting harassed by his wife in episodes entitled &quot;I wasn't looking at her!&quot; and &quot;I told you, that was Peja's fiancee!&quot;

3. From this point forward, doesn't Christie's replica Kings jersey immediately become the best possible way for a group of guys to humiliate one of their emasculated buddies? Let's say you have that one friend who's spending a little too much time with a new girlfriend, and it seems like she's wearing the pants in the family, to the point that your buddy has been blowing you off. BOOM! Everyone chips in five bucks, you purchase the Christie jersey, and you mail it anonymously to him.

&quot;It's just a situation where my emotions got hijacked and I regret responding the way I did,&quot; Fox said after practice Sunday. &quot;I will try and move on from there.&quot;

Fox said he expects to be fined and suspended by the NBA. Christie also might be suspended.

The Friday night fight came in the preseason finale for both teams. Fox and Christie fought on the court in the first quarter. After their ejections, they scuffled outside the Kings' locker room.

Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, who was in street clothes, could get suspended for leaving the bench and going to the hallway to help Fox. The entire Kings team left the bench and tried to help Christie. They all could face suspensions as well.

The fight started 9:53 into the game. Fox threw a right-handed elbow at Christie, who had smothered Fox on defense. Fox was called for an offensive foul and then dropped the ball on Christie. Christie, who had fallen to the court, got back up and threw the ball back at Fox.

Fox threw an openhanded left-handed slap and hit Christie in the jaw. Christie responded by hitting Fox with a left-handed punch.

After both were tossed from the game, Fox sprinted off the court, past the Lakers locker room and waited for Christie to enter the tunnel. Fox then put Christie into a headlock and Christie threw several punches at Fox.

Fox was asked Sunday if he thought about turning back before reaching the tunnel.

&quot;No,&quot; he said. &quot;That's the disappointing thing because I had enough time to gather myself. But now I know that about me. I learned something about myself that I didn't know, and that is I need more than three or four minutes to catch myself.&quot;

According to several witnesses, Christie's wife also joined the fracas, the Los Angeles Times reported.

&quot;I guess she thought he needed some help,&quot; Fox told the newspaper.

The Lakers and Kings have established one of the NBA's best rivalries. They played a seven-game series in the Western Conference finals last May, which the Lakers won 4-3.

Somebody please pour Doug Christie a tall glass of &quot;Stand Up For Yourself!&quot; They should call the Sacramento guard/forward Cream, because he is seriously whipped.

Cobble together recent media reports and you find out that Christie's wife attends most Kings road games, often follows or rides the team bus to keep tabs on her man, and practically forbids him from talking to females, even reporters.

They get remarried annually on their anniversary. Dozens of times a game he signals &quot;I love you&quot; to her in the stands. And here's the best: When Christie recently sought permission to attend Mateen Cleaves' bachelor party, it so enraged his wife that, according to reports, she set fire to his BMW convertible.

.....

Steve Davis can be reached at 214-977-8030 or at stevedavis@dallasnews.com.

LRB

01-15-2003, 08:18 AM

When Christie played for the Raptors, his wife once confronted a female fan seeking an autograph and a kiss in Toronto. &quot;A security guard grabbed her, but I put my hand up and told her to back off really loud,&quot; she said. &quot;It scared me, because my voice sounded like a demon. It just came out. She was a pretty girl, very young. But she was touching someone she shouldn't have been.&quot;

Julius Erving, also 52, currently a vice president with the Orlando Magic, acknowledged in ongoing divorce proceedings that he has accepted responsibility for a second out-of-wedlock child. In 1999, he admitted that he was the father of women's tennis pro Alexandra Stevenson.

Erving said in a personal financial affidavit filed with the Circuit Court of Seminole County last November that he is paying $2,000 a month in child support for a son. Turquoise Erving contends in the public court records that the mother of the boy lives in Orlando.

The divorce petition was filed in May.

OutletPass

01-15-2003, 09:12 AM

Mrs. Christie...a former model ????

On what planet ?

LRB

01-15-2003, 10:03 AM

Well OP there are models as in runway models and their are models as in models psycho behavior. i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif
So which group do you think the infamous Mrs. Christie falls into? i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif

Man, that's sad/scary. LRB, at first I thought your jokes about the Christie situation every other post was getting a little old, but after reading these articles I see why you do it, this is just nuts!

Usually Lurkin

01-15-2003, 11:58 AM

this pretty much sums it up for me:
&quot;I just felt I needed to protect my territory in the beginning,&quot; Jackie said.

Whipped is allowing yourself to be treated like someone's property.

and ahh... the birth of a rumor

columnist Simmons:
&lt;&lt;(I kept waiting for this part: &quot;When Doug asked if he could attend Mateen Cleaves' bachelor party this season, his wife burned his clothes and set his BMW convertible on fire.&quot;)&gt;&gt;

The Morning Line:
&lt;&lt;And here's the best: When Christie recently sought permission to attend Mateen Cleaves' bachelor party, it so enraged his wife that, according to reports, she set fire to his BMW convertible. &gt;&gt;

Base Line Guy

01-15-2003, 12:06 PM

irontoad, What LBR has stated is 100% on target, as I have 1st hand knowledge of this.

(knowledge = damn near getting the back hand personally from JC last year)

BLG

Usually Lurkin

01-15-2003, 12:10 PM

BLG, were you &quot;seeking an autograph and a kiss&quot;?

Base Line Guy

01-15-2003, 12:11 PM

lol, just a kiss!

BLG

Big Boy Laroux

01-15-2003, 12:19 PM

ha ha, UL, i noticed that, too. Bill Simmons writes a joke, and some guy takes it as actually happening!

too funny.

maybe someone should e-mail that guy and let him know what a joke is...

LRB

01-15-2003, 06:29 PM

I hope non of the Mavs ask Christie for his autograph tonight. We have enough injuries as it is. i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif

Base Line Guy

01-15-2003, 07:07 PM

It sucks b/c Doug IS such a nice guy. Obviously has no sack, but still a nice guy.